British Nurses Announce Fresh Strikes in January, Sunak ‘Disappointed’ By Disruption

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of British nurses are set to stage a new round of strikes in January amid the biggest wave of industrial action over pay and working conditions across the country.

The Royal College of Nursing [RCN], the registered trade union for nurses in the UK, made the announcement on Friday, saying thousands of nurses in Britain would go on strike again on two consecutive days, January 18 and 19, with further dates to be confirmed in the New Year.

The RCN said the British nurses had walked out on December 15 and 20 across the country over pay disputes.

The new dates from the trade union come days after the British health sector warned the government against the risk to patient safety, as a wave of industrial action is underway across the country over the Christmas holiday season.

Meanwhile, passengers at British airports were warned of delays after passport control staff walked out on Friday, the first day of a strike due to last until December 31.

Additionally, more than 1,000 Border Force staff, who are employed by the British government, were expecting to strike following industrial action by nurses, paramedics, and workers in the rail and postal sectors even as they had been offered a 2 percent pay rise, far below the UK inflation rate, which stood at 10.7 percent in November.

Border Force expressed apologies for any disruption for travelers entering Britain and said it was working with partners across the travel industry to support the inflow of passengers and goods.

The British government said it was training members of the armed forces and government officials to help staff passport controls at airports and ports amid nationwide strikes by various unions.

For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was at pains to confirm that he was disappointed about the disruption caused by strikes by unions representing workers in sectors including rail, health and border staff.

“I’m really sad and disappointed about the disruption that has been caused to so many people’s lives, particularly at Christmas time,” Sunak told reporters.